


Before History Repeats

by TeamGwenee



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Arranged Marriage, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post Season-8, Post War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 01:37:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16588253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamGwenee/pseuds/TeamGwenee
Summary: Through his acts in the War Against the Dead, Jaime finds his honour restored and his popularity soaring. But the realm still needs to be united under Queen Daenerys's rule, and it seems Jaime's renewed reputation may come at a price.





	Before History Repeats

For the first time since he was seventeen, Jaime rode through the streets of King’s Landing without feeling the hatred and curses of the Smallfolk behind his back. Their faces weren’t sour as rancid milk and their lips weren’t pinched as though swallowing spit. There were cheers for him. There were kisses and flowers and roars of approval. All for him. All for their saviour. At last, his reputation had been restored. And all it took was leading the defence against an ice dragon and removing his sister from the throne without bloodshed.

What he wouldn’t give to have dung thrown at his head.

Then peace and unity in the South would very much depend on him _not_ being wed to the Dragon Queen.

If his heroics wasn’t enough, the pretty picture he made riding alongside Daenerys Targaryen, he in his black and gold armour and red cloak, stern and strong a grizzled, and she, painfully beautiful, buried in her white fur, was enough to set many a heart a flutter. He heard the sighs and gushes in the crowd. “Don’t they look perfect? Isn’t that just how you have always pictured a king and queen?”

What a beautiful story they made. Enemies thrown together in the thick of battle, finding love and solace in each other’s arms. Never mind that Daenerys’s true wartime lover was rotting in the ruins of Winterfell with the rest of the Starks and Jaime’s was stuck sidling along in their train, there to always walk ten steps behind.

“We will have to discuss our future Kingsguard at some point,” Daenerys whispered to him blithely. “I thought to make Jorah Mormont my commander.”

Jaime felt a stirring of pity for the Northerner. He would accept the post, no doubt, just to be near his beloved queen. And he would waste his life away pining and longing for something tantalisingly close and always far from reach. If Daenerys had any sympathy for the man, she would find him something to do that kept him away from her. At least then he might be able to find some kind of life.

“And that wonderful friend of yours.” Daenerys gave a casual glance over her shoulder to see where Brienne straggled along. “I hear she did well in battle.”

 _‘Well? She was glorious.’_ Jaime thought, teeth gritted and hands tight on the reins. Brienne would never accept such a wretched position. She knew what a cursed honour to wear a white cloak was. No, she would never agree to such a folly, unless…. It wasn’t worth thinking about. Would she agree to such a thing, just to be close to him? Just like she did with Renly. Just like he did with Cersei.

Jaime felt a blow to his gut as he saw history repeat itself. He saw himself and Brienne, forced to be standing silently before each other. Only to have whispered words in private and turned backs in public. Another life of lies and sneaking and yearning. A life of Brienne standing by and watching as he and Daenerys played happy families.

Jaime looked at the oblivious Daenerys with quiet loathing. The day she named Brienne to her Kingsguard, was the day Jaime became a Queenslayer. Jaime wondered if it would be in poor taste telling Daenerys this on the very day that they were meant to confirm the rumours of their much-discussed nuptials.

They reached the Dragonpit and entered amidst roaring cheers. There, he and Daenerys and her advisors took their place on a raised platform, ready to address the crowds.

There was much to be discussed, many announcements to be made, their prospective marriage only one of them. And if Jaime had his way, he would have allowed Daenerys to speak first as a queen should. But then, he did not know _when_ exactly their marriage came in order of business. It had every chance of coming first, and that was a risk he could not take.

And so, with a rudeness worthy of beheading, Jaime stepped before Daenerys and spoke.

“My friends!” he cried, “Our realm is united once more. In our fight against the dead, the living has learnt to fight together and love each other. Enemies once baying for each other’s blood now stand as comrades. Let us be grateful, for there is peace at last, and now we all love one another as we should!”

A very pleasing cheer swept over the stands. Jaime waited, Daenerys angered into silence. He jumped in before the cheers had truly stopped, before anyone else could cut him off.

“Our Houses have fought together and are now bonded, stronger than ever before. For it was a bond forged in a battle bloodier and more hopeless than any other. It is a bond stronger than that of kin, or friendship, or marriage.” Jaime gave a crooked smile to the crowd. “And that is why I would like to put you good people at ease and assure you, our realm is no longer so fragmented and splintered that it can only be held together by the fragile ties of wedlock, ones that all too rarely held firm. And any rumours that would suggest otherwise can be put to rest.”

The crowd began murmuring fervently. Understanding dawned, and Jaime could feel Daenerys’s cold glare burning into his back. The council exchanged desperate, wild looks, but it was too late now. All they could do now was run with it.  

Jaime dutifully stepped back and allowed Daenerys to seize control. Jaime’s announcement, although surprising, did not seem to greatly dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm. Instead, many seemed to see the sense of Jaime’s words.

“That was very skilfully done,” Varys whispered into Jaime and Tyrion’s ears. “You actually made it look like a good thing you were refusing the match. Now our beloved queen would only weaken her standing by insisting on it.”

“I just wish you would give us some warning,” Tyrion grumbled.

“If I did, you might have talked me out of it,” Jaime shot back. “Besides, the situation became very dire and I had to act swiftly.”

“May I just make one request?” Tyrion begged.

Jaime smiled obligingly. “And what request is that?”

“That you don’t run off and marry Brienne of Tarth immediately.” Tyrion shook his head. “So that your true reason for calling off the queen isn’t _too_ obvious.”

Jaime searched for Brienne in the crowd. Her face was white and bloodless but graced with a tentative smile. She caught his eye and her smile grew, just a fraction. Jaime felt his cheeks stretch without his say-so and nodded.

“I’ll give you a fortnight,” Jaime told Tyrion at last. “I would give you longer if I could, but to be perfectly candid, I don’t think I will be able to keep my hands off her.”


End file.
